Declaration of No Accounts

Each local council and parish meeting where there is no council, must, irrespective of size, prepare accounts annually in the format specified in the annual return and have the accounts audited.

Some parish meetings and a few parish councils frequently incur no financial transactions in a financial year.

Local councils with no financial transactions do not prepare accounts or an annual return, but must instead complete a ‘Declaration of no accounts’ for each relevant year.

Local councils should display the declaration publicly and prominently and send a copy to their appointed auditor on receipt of notification of annual audit. You can download a pro forma copy of the declaration for local use or find it at Appendix 11 to the Practitioners’ Guide 2014.